about the excellence of a certain cobbler lead the Israelite to descend from the mountain peak and pay the cobbler a visit. Seeing the devout Israelite the cobbler stood to show respect, after which he respectfully kissed the devout man's hand and enquired: What caused you to descend from your sanctuary (place of worship)? “You have.” The man replied “I have been informed that in the sight عَزَّوَجَلَّ of Allah you are more elevated than me. Hence I decided to pay you a visit. Tell me what action has caused you to be so honoured in the sight of Allah the Merciful.” The cobbler remained silent as though he did not wish to disclose a particular deed. Eventually he disclosed his secret: “I don’t do anything special, other than the fact that I occupy my entire day with making efforts to earn a halal livelihood and abstain from haram earnings, and then whatever earnings Allah Almighty blesses me with that day I donate half of them in charity and spend the other half on my family. Secondly I fast excessively. Apart from these two there isn’t much else worth mentioning.” Following this conversation the devout Israelite left and got engaged in worship again. Some time later he had another dream: “Ask the cobbler what has frightened him so much as to cause his face to become pale.” He was instructed in this new dream. So the devout man returned to the cobbler and asked: “Why is your face pale? What are you so afraid of?” The cobbler responded: “Whenever I see another individual I consider him to be superior to me; that he will be a dweller of paradise, and I am worthy of hell; I consider my own self to be the most inferior among humans and the worst sinner; I constantly fear hell. This is the reason for the paleness of my face.” The devout man returned to his sanctuary (place of worship). The narrator, Sayyiduna Khuld Bin Ayyub رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه, further states: The cobbler excelled the devout worshipper on the basis of considering himself to be worse than others and considering all others to be destined for heaven except him. (‘Uyoon-ul-Hikayaat, pp. 103)

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب           صَلَّى اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰى عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic sisters! So you see! Any fortunate believer who shuns superficial glitz and glamour, rejects sins, and  becomes a worshipping, devout, practicing, abstinent Muslim, humbles herself by considering herself to be the worst of people and others to be superior to her, frequently practices Nafl (supererogatory) fasting and charity, earns nothing but a halal livelihood, refrains from disclosing her virtues despite being a frequent worshipper, considers her own self to be the worst of all sinners, remains frequently